Accused rock thrower stays police secret

BRENDAN CRABB

POLICE are refusing to name a man charged in relation to a rock-throwing incident at Bombo on Sunday morning.

Police said that at 3.15am on Sunday, 22-year-old Boma-derry resident Nicole Miller was a passenger in a car travelling home along the Princes Highway.

She was with friends after a night out in Wollongong and was sitting in the car's rear left passenger seat.

Soon after passing the Riverside Drive overpass at Bombo the rear window of their Holden Astra was shattered by a large rock, believed to have been deliberately thrown from the overpass.

Friends discovered Ms Miller bleeding from the head and she was later found to have suffered serious head injuries.

After undergoing emergency surgery, Ms Miller is still in a critical condition in Wollongong Hospital. Part of her skull had been removed.

Police were assisted in their inquiries by two 19-year-old Kiama males and as a result arrested and charged a man in Tarrant Street, Kiama Downs, on Sunday night.

Police refused to identify the man because of "privacy issues", although he was named by a Sydney newspaper as 25-year-old Peter Hodgkins.

He was taken to Port Kembla Police Station and questioned before being charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Police said the man was granted conditional bail and was expected to appear in Wollongong Local court on August 21.

"? Should police have named the man? Should he have got bail? SMS 0420 847 990 or email news@kiamaindependent.com.au